Understanding Amoebas
Two weeks ago, a boy was infected by a rare “brain-eating” amoeba while kneeboarding with friends in shallow water ditches near his home in Florida. The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, enters the body through the nose and from there travels to the brain. After sleeping almost the entire next day, the boy’s parents took him into the hospital. Doctors performed brain surgery and began treating him with an experimental anti-amoeba drug and other meds. The young boy remains in the ICU at a hospital in Florida now, hoping to beat some pretty huge odds (only 2 people of 128 known cases have survived).
Now, this is not the amoeba our little girl has and since prayer and medical facts are what helps me not to fly off the handle and wonder if my daughter’s brain is being slowly attacked by amoebas, I figured I would share some background with you to accompany your prayers.
Perpetua has amoebiasis, an infection caused by the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica. This amoeba enters the body orally and resides in the intestine, where it usually feeds on bacteria and food particles. While 90% of those who are infected are asymptomatic (showing no symptoms because it doesn’t penetrate the mucus lining of the intestine), it can be extremely painful and in very rare cases, even fatal for the other 10%, who like Perpetua, show symptoms from diarrhea to dysentery with blood and mucus, because the amoeba comes into contact with cells lining the intestine and begins to break them down. It is estimated that of the approximately 50 million infected each year, 70,000 die annually from this disease (.14% fatality).
Since purchase prednisone Entamoeba histolytica is transmitted through contaminated food and water, amoebiasis is extremely common in parts of the world with underdeveloped sanitation systems (i.e. Chad). I would not be surprised if every member of our family has this amoeba in our systems. In fact, the asymptomatic infection can remain dormant in the body for over a year. Both Nehemiah and Evangeline were found to have it in their systems at their wellness checkups in 2012, three months after returning from Chad for our previous furlough. The infection is treated with metronidazole, which is more commonly known here as “flagyl”.
We appreciate your prayers for our little Sunshine. Perpetua has been keeping the flagyl down and seems more upbeat today (better than the previous days of lethargy). Keep it up!
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